Arena Profile: Gov. Jennifer Granholm

Jennifer Granholm was elected governor in 2002 and re-elected in 2006. She began her career in public service as a judicial clerk for Michigan's 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. She became a federal prosecutor in Detroit in 1990, and in 1994, she was appointed Wayne County Corporation Counsel. Granholm was elected Michigan's first female attorney general in 1998.

Since becoming governor, she has worked to transform and grow Michigan's economy through diversification, create jobs, ensure world-class educational opportunities for every Michigan student, create universal access to affordable health care, and stand up for Michigan workers and families during tough economic times. While aggressively pursuing her top priority of putting Michigan families first, she has also worked to ensure that state government spends every penny efficiently and has successfully resolved more than $9 billion in budget deficits.

Granholm's comprehensive economic agenda includes growing a new alternative energy sector that will transform Michigan's rustbelt image to a greenbelt reality, help end our nation's dependence on foreign oil, and help train unemployed and under-employed citizens for high-demand jobs through the No Worker Left Behind initiative, which has enrolled more than 100,000 people since its launch in 2007.

Granholm has championed universal access to higher education, increased spending to record levels for Michigan's public schools, and implemented some of the most rigorous high school graduation requirements in the nation.

The Pew Center on the States recognized Michigan as one of the best-managed states in the nation in the Government Performance Project report entitled, "Grading the States 2008."

Granholm serves as chair of the Health and Human Services Committee and is co-chair of the Health Care Task Force of the National Governors Association, and is chair of the Midwestern Governors Association.

Granholm was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, and is an honors graduate of both the University of California at Berkeley and Harvard Law School. She and her husband, Daniel G. Mulhern, have three children.

(Photo by Michael Schwartz/POLITICO)

Gov. Jennifer Granholm's Recent Discussions

The GOP's 'pledge' to social issues? Plus, Day 3 of the Clinton Global Initiative. And 'all politics is local' no more?

(Interview with POLITICO's David Mark at the Clinton Global Initiative)

I think any time a leader leaves office, their approval rating goes up. But people are nostalgic for the Clinton-style of governance.

His experience after 1994 was communicate, communicate, communicate. I think that’s something President Obama and the Democrats will try to do, too.

He brings the perspective of somebody who has been able to govern through crisis, and opposition in the legislature. It gives us some hope that there is balcony-level perspective on turmoil.

Has Obama lost Olbermann?

(Interview with David Mark and POLITICO colleagues)

On criticism of President Obama’s Gulf oil spill speech:

"I’m not sure I understand what they expected. I was very interested in what he’d like to see done about energy." Renewable energy "is exactly our sweet spot" and it’s a major priority of the Obama administration. "$1 billion goes every single day to foreign oil interests. Imagine if we had that resource investment at home."

Regarding lack of cap-and-trade remark by Obama, “I think you have to be pragmatic - are there the votes for that at this point?”

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About the Arena

The Arena is a cross-party, cross-discipline forum for intelligent and lively conversation about political and policy issues. Contributors have been selected by POLITICO staff and editors. David Mark, Arena's moderator, is a Senior Editor at POLITICO. Each morning, POLITICO sends a question based on that day's news to all contributors.